


A Villager's Return

by sleep_incarnate



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Archery, F/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 05:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16696126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleep_incarnate/pseuds/sleep_incarnate
Summary: The newest hero in Askr, Kliff is wide eyed at the new sights to take in, eager and ready to explore. Familiar faces make him think on how he was before the Valentian war, however.





	A Villager's Return

**Author's Note:**

> College sucks when it comes to letting me write lemme tell ya... Anyway this is a commission for a friend on Tumblr! Was fun to do other pairings, and I may have actually gotten sucked into this one lol

Kliff couldn’t explain how it happened. One moment he was fast asleep in a foreign inn, the next he was surrounded by a deep puff of smoke. The young villager waved a hand to clear the smoke away as his eyes slowly took in the new surroundings. Ornate stonework covered the ground as equally fancy pillars shot up from the ground. It reminded Kliff of the many temples of Mila he’d seen during the war. The giant castle dwarfed even the giant pillars near him, however. No matter how many castles he’d seen, it always made him feel small as he stood so close to such a massive testament to architecture.

“Eeeeee!” A distinctly feminine voice screamed. Kliff turned to the source of it but was met with a pair of hands on his shoulders. “You’re here! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The sheer excitement from the girl gave Kliff a headache, but he remembered Tobin’s advice and held himself back. ‘Step 1,’ He thought. ‘Give a small greeting.’

“ My name is Kliff,” He started before looking over the girl’s shoulder to the castle. “Hmm... This place looks like it could be a lot of fun. Don't let me get bored.”

“I’m Thea!” The girl let go of Kliff and stood with her head held proudly. “Askr’s Summoner and lead tactician! Oh yeah, welcome to Askr, Kliff!”

“Y-Yeah…” She certainly seemed upbeat. Thea motioned for Kliff as she made her way twards the castle. The villager followed, but took his time to take in everything around him. “So ‘Askr’, huh?’ Kliff asked. ‘Haven’t heard of this place before, and I’ve traveled a lot.”

The laughed as she pushed open a small door to the castle. “I wouldn’t expect you to, honestly. Askr’s a whole different realm from Valentia!”

There was a lot to unpack from that response, and Kliff didn’t know where to start. The castle’s inside was just as ornate as the outside appeared, but the sheer amount of people made Kliff’s eyes go wide. “Hang on, ‘realm’?” Kliff sidestepped to avoid an ornate horse as a short girl around his age led it behind her. “And how do you know where I’m from anyway?”

Kliff quickened his pace as Thea led on before stopping in front of a large set of double doors. “Well you’re a pretty important person in your land’s history, Kliff. A lot of people know about you, believe me.” Thea pushed open the doors, revealing a massive library. It almost made Kliff’s heart stop seeing so many books. “All of this will make sense soon, but I’ll always be around to help you get comfortable!”

Thea pulled on Kliff’s hand and led him inside. “Now, I know you’re a big bookworm, Kliff, but the Askr Library is mostly off-limits. If you’d like, I can put in a word to let you come and go in here whenever you’d li--”

“Yes, please.” Kliff interrupted, the words leaving his lips before he’d even realized it. “I mean--um. That’d be nice, yeah.”

The small tour of the castle continued from there. Kliff had to admit, for how jaw dropping the castle looked, he felt oddly at ease within the ornate halls. But the true jaw dropper came when Thea showed him his living quarters. The room was simple enough, but it was who else was there that stunned him. Among a messy pile of scattered bed sheets were his old friends from the Valentian war, though it struck him that some were missing. “You guys…” Kliff started before his brain blanked. It dawned on him that this was probably the first time in years they’d seen him since he’d left to travel the world. In the back of his head, he heard the door shut behind him as Thea made her leave.

Tobin, Clair, Celica, and… 

“Faye…it’s really you…” The young villager slowly walked to the now standing group of Valentians, his and Faye’s brown eyes locked on the other.

Faye said nothing before suddenly leaping at Kliff, pulling him into a tight hug. Kliff felt his shoulder grow damp. His vision went blurry as tears began to well up, slowly trailing down his face. He returned Faye’s hug and embraced her just the same. “You guys I--”

“No.” Faye squeezed Kliff and gasped for air between sobs. “Don’t apologize, Kliff. You’re here and…and that’s what I…what  _ we _ care about more than anything.”

That tearful reunion was an important reminder for Kliff. For all his sarcasm and abrasiveness, he was still young, as much he hated to admit it. His friends were quick to help him set up in Tobin’s room. Even in a foreign land he was doomed to share living quarters with him it seemed… Though it made Kliff think for a moment. “Hey Tobin?” He asked as he put the last of his library books on his shelf. “Where’s Gray and Alm? Usually those two are basicaly glued to you.”

Tobin seemed almost depressed by the question. “The guys…haven’t shown up yet. Apparently Thea’s been unlucky with summoning them.” The brown haired man gave a small grin and pat Kliff on the back. “But hey we’ve got you now, don’t we? The Ram Fam is almost back together!”

“‘Ram Fam?’”

“Oh that’s our team’s name. Thea’s idea.”

With the room sorted out and no training for the day, Kliff took to exploring on his own. Celica had mentioned Faye frequented the archery range. The spot was rather calm as a reading spot, Kliff had found. The rare moments of free time he’d had were usually spent under a tree people watching. Unless Setsuna was nearby. Kliff learned quickly to steer clear of the range then.

Sure enough, Faye was busy with her training. He’d heard she used a bow here in Askr, and the thought puzzled the mage. When they were together in Valentia, she had shown some small interest in archery, but Kliff always assumed that was just an excuse to spend time with him. Not that he minded of course. Her inexperience with the bow showed, however. One glance at the far off target showed she’d only barely hit the inner rings. Wooden shafts stuck up further down the range. Kliff let out a sigh. “You know you’re supposed to keep your eyes open right?”

Faye turned to the mage, surprised by his quiet appearance, but soon regained her composure. “Oh, right. I’m uh…still getting used to how much this hurts my hands…”

“Here let me see it.” Faye’s bow certainly felt much heavier than what Kliff remembered from Valentia’s bows. It felt oddly…warm, like a tome right after casting a spell. “You wanna hold it up like this…. Relax, take a deep breath and…” Kliff let the arrow fly. A small smirk grew on his face as he heard it hit its target with a satisfying  _ THUNK _

“Here,” Kliff held Faye’s bow out. “Give it another shot.”

Faye nodded and notched an arrow. Her breathing steadied before stopping a moment. “Relax…” Kliff heard her mutter softly. Her arrow flew towards the target, giving another noise of a successful shot. Though it wasn’t a perfect bullseye, Faye’s attempt had at least been the best of her past ones. The village girl smiled and looked over to Kliff. Neither said anything as their faces grew hot in the cool Askr breeze.

After his small lesson at the range, Kliff went further towards the edge of the castle’s grounds. The young villager was still getting a grasp on where everything was in Askr, but he had at least been lucky enough to find a rather calm area outside. “I hope Gray and Alm get here soon…” He muttered as ge looked for his normal spot. “Never thought I’d miss the two rowdiest guys from Ram…”

“You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, I guess.” A feminine voice spoke up behind Kliff.

The villager panicked and spun around, but his foot got caught in a loos tree root. He reached for his tome in his downed state, but relaxed when he saw the very familiar face. Hidden behind a nearby tree was Faye, doing her best not to laugh at Kliff’s blunder. “Why are you--”

“I always see you come out here alone, so I thought I’d surprise you since you’ve been your old distant self again.” Faye jumped out from behind her tree and sat herself down beside Kliff.

“You don’t have to treat me like a kid, Faye.” Kliff unconsciously leaned on the village girl as a soft blush formed on his face.

The pair sat in silence as Kliff glanced down to the book he’d brought out. The mage thought back to his arrival to Askr and the tearful reunion with his old friends. The old him would’ve hated something like that, and yet somehow… “Faye I’m…” He trailed off.

Faye lifted her head up from Kliff’s side and gave her partner a soft smile. “Don’t worry, Kliff.” She put an arm around the mage and pulled him in close. “I don’t have to be a cleric to know what you’re feeling…”


End file.
